Cal AD Jim Knowlton, Justin Wilcox Discuss Football Schedule, Budget, Etc.

Players also hold a lot of responsibility for whether a college football season will be played in 2020

Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton said Friday morning the Pac-12 is still considering nine-game and 10-game football schedules as well as the possibility of a split season. He also said Cal would be able to balance its athletic budget this year if fans were not allowed at football games, although he hinted it might be a different story if no games are played.

Perhaps his most important comment was that the behavior of Cal players participating in voluntary workouts will have a major impact on when and whether a football season is played.

Knowlton and Bears head football coach Justin Wilcox made their comments on Sirius XM Pac-12 Channel 373 with hosts Geoff Schwartz and Sean O'Connell.

Wilcox spoke about the unusual preparation period for the players, while Knowlton focused on what a football season might look like—if there is a football season--and the budget ramifications.

The Pac-12 has already announced that it will play a conference-only schedule and will delay the start of the season. But uncertainty remains about the what the schedule will look like.

“We’ve made multiple models – nine-game models, 10-game models, split-season models,” Knowlton said. “We’ve looked at everything, and I don’t think anyone wants to take anything off the table.”

It appears the idea of an 11-game schedule, in which each Pac-12 team would play every other Pac-12 team, is no longer under consideration. A 10-game schedule apparently is the longest season being considered.

But things change in a hurry.

“If you had asked me three weeks ago how I felt, it’s totally different than how I feel now,” Knowlton said.

Three weeks ago, when California businesses were starting to open up, the notion of a fall football season seemed plausible. The recent surge of COVID-19 cases has made a fall football seem like a long shot.

The situation in the Pac-12 is complicated by the different circumstances thoughout the conference footprint.

“California is totally different than what’s going on in Utah and Colorado,” Knowlton said, “and Washington and Arizona are probably close to California, so each day sort of eliminates or reinforces a model.”

If there is no football season, Cal may have to at least consider cutting some of its 30 sports. Cal Chancellor Carol Christ would have a significant say in that matter.

“I think both of us said from the very beginning that cutting sports is an absolute last resort,” Knowlton said.

Knowlton said the athletic department budget for this year was balanced “for the first time in some time,” and he also said Cal will be able to balance the budget for the coming year, even if fans were not allowed to attend football games.

That is a significant statement because Knowlton said that money from attendance at football games accounts for 10 percent of the athletic budget.

Losing a football season altogether would be more drastic, and Knowlton made no promises.

“Obviously, if we don’t have any football, I think every single athletic director in the country may have to go to Plan B, which may be a lot harder than Plan A,” he said.

Knowlton noted that the pressure players put on each other to follow safety guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic may determine whether a football season is played in 2020.

“I think for our student-athletes they’ve got to understand that their ability to have a season really depends on the peer pressure they put on each other to really do those things we need to socially distance," he said.

From personal experience, Knowlton realizes 18-to-22-year-olds pay more attention to their friends than to adults.

Wilcox notes there are 20 hours a day when football players are not at the stadium, so a lot is left up to the athletes.

“It’s so different for that age group,” he said. “We give them guidelines for their own health. We don’t lock them down 24 hours a day. I don’t think that’s feasible and I don’t want to do that.”

An area to work out with weights has been set up outdoors, and workout sessions are limited to 12 players at a time with health staff on hand, Wilcox said. Coaches’ communications with players take place via Zoom, a medium Wilcox is slowly growing comfortable with.

Whenever Cal is allowed to begin practicing, a few tweaks might be required because players might not be in the peak condition they would be in during a typical summer.

“I can see there being a little bit of an adjustment in the first part of camp,” Wilcox said, “then making sure you get a couple weeks of really good work in . . . You can’t just show up two weeks before, practice and go play a game.”

Wilcox went on to extoll the skills of quarterback Chase Garbers.

“The more he’s played, the better and better he’s gotten,” Wilcox said. “He does some really good things with his feet when things are off schedule. He’s a strong guy, and he’s real level-headed, so I’m excited for him.”

To listen to the entire interview with Jim Knowlton, click here

To listen to the entire interview with Justin Wilcox, click here

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.